JERICHO: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Monday claimed the lives of a Palestinian teenager and a British-Israeli mother who succumbed to injuries from a West Bank gun attack that earlier killed her two daughters.

Tensions have flared into bloodshed since last week, with heavy clashes, shootings, rocket strikes and a car-ramming attack marring a period when the Ramazan coincides with the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter.

And on Monday several ministers from Israel’s hard-right government joined a protest march by Jewish settlers, held under tight security in the north of the occupied West Bank.

In the latest West Bank shooting, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager and wounded two other people, the Palestinian health ministry said, during what the army described as a raid to arrest a “terror suspect”.

Mohammed Fayez Balhan, 15, died after being shot “with live occupation (Israeli) bullets in the head, chest and abdomen”, the ministry said, having earlier reported that two others were injured by Israeli bullets.

The Israeli army confirmed its forces were operating in the Aqabat Jaber camp, the site of previous deadly Israeli raids this year, near Jericho, where soldiers were seeking “to apprehend a terror suspect”.

The army said troops responded with live fire after “suspects opened fire toward (soldiers), hurled explosive devices and Molotov cocktails”. They added that a suspect was taken in by security forces.

Violence erupted when the army entered the camp and surrounded several houses, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. A Palestinian security official said that five individuals were arrested during the raid.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, said it mourned the “young martyr” Balhan and praised those “who are standing up to this arrogant enemy”.

British-Israeli mother dies

The operation came as a Jerusalem hospital confirmed that a British-Israeli woman, Lucy (Leah) Dee, had died after being seriously injured in a shooting attack on Friday in the West Bank that killed her two daughters, aged 16 and 20.

Their car came under fire in the Jordan Valley, where Jericho is also located. The families were residents of Efrat, an illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly tweeted: “There can be no justification for the murder of Leah and her two daughters, Maia and Rina.” “We will continue to work with the Israeli authorities to end this senseless violence,” he added.

Thousands of Jewish settlers live in Israeli-approved settlements there which are considered illegal under international law.

Hundreds of Israelis marched on Monday in the north of the West Bank, pushing for state approval of an Israeli settler outpost.

Several government ministers — including Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — appeared at the march to Eviatar, whose residents agreed to leave in 2021 while officials examined their case.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2023